10 Ways Artificially Carbonated Drinks Affect Your Health.

By Esther Edeh, B.Sc -BCHHealth

10 minutes read.   

It is funny how you think you hydrate yourself by drinking carbonated drinks. Unfortunately, carbonated drinks contain caffeine that causes dehydration if not supplemented with water.

The consistent intake of these drinks can lead to low water retention and malfunction of the good bacteria that benefits your gut.

This article reveal to you everything you need to know about artificially carbonated Drinks.

Feel free to skim through.

In this article:

What is Carbonated Drinks/Water?

Carbonated drinks/water is water that has been artificially infused carbon dioxide gas in it under pressure in the lab.

This means that the water or water used in making the drink is containing dissolved carbon dioxide gas, either artificially injected under pressure or occurring due to natural geological processes.

Carbonation causes small bubbles to form, giving the drink or water an effervescent (bubbling) quality.

Common forms include sparkling natural mineral water, club soda, and commercially produced sparkling water.

Club soda and sparkling mineral water and some other sparkling waters contain added or dissolved minerals such as potassium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium citrate, or potassium sulfate.

These occur naturally in some mineral waters but are also commonly added artificially to manufactured waters to mimic a natural flavor profile and offset the acidity of introducing carbon dioxide gas giving one a fizzy sensation

Apart from seltzer water, carbonated waters usually have salt added to improve their taste. Sometimes small amounts of other minerals are included.

10 Effect

10 Ways Artificially Carbonated Drinks Affect Your Health

1. It Causes Excess Belly Fat

Studies demonstrated that carbonated drinks store excess fat in your body.

This is because it contains high amounts of sugar, which add calories to your body, which may cause an increase in weight or obesity.

Obesity and being overweight are red flags for diabetes and other diseases.

One 2015 study conducted on Spanish adults shown that daily consumption of soft drinks was associated with increased waist circumference and odds of 10-years incidence of abdominal obesity.

2. Poor Nutrition

An excessive intake of carbonated drinks tampers with your diet. It reduces your intake of protein, oil, carbohydrates, and vitamins.

Taking carbonated drinks fills your stomach and reduces your appetite for food, which has an adverse effect on your nutrition.

It also makes you consume fewer fruits and fruit juices, which are of huge benefit to your body and your health in general.

Scientists found clear associations of soft drink intake with increased energy intake and body weight.

Soft drink intake also was associated with lower intakes of milk, calcium, and other nutrients and with an increased risk of several medical problems.

When it comes to ranking beverages best for our health, carbonated beverages fall at the bottom of the list because they provide so many calories and virtually no other nutrients.

People who drink sugary beverages do not feel as full as if they had eaten the same calories from solid food.

3. Tooth Decay And Discoloration

Carbonated drinks have many potential health problems. The inherent acids and sugars have both acidogenic and cariogenic potential, resulting in dental caries and potential enamel erosion.

The damage to the dental enamel due to significant consumption of any carbonated soft drink was compared against the level of damage when the consumption of carbonated was not substantial by reviewing in vitro and in vivo clinical trials that examined human teeth in adults and children.

Results of many  suggested that substantial consumption of carbonated soft drinks led to an increased risk of dental erosion, structural disintegration of the tooth, and degradation of the mechanical and physical properties of the enamel.

The rougher texture of the eroded surfaces also provided conditions for bacteria to adhere to the teeth, thus increasing the risk of dental caries.

One 2016 study concluded that the consumption of carbonated drinks with high sugar content and acidity can contribute to detrimental oral health and may also affect general health.

Therefore, it is necessary to educate patients about the harmful effects of different types of soft drinks as it is not always easy for individuals to identify from drink labelling the ingredients which they contain.

Sugar is your teeth’s worst enemy because it damages them gradually. Regular intake of carbonated drinks discolours your teeth without you knowing.

So you must have been wondering why you’ve used every possible toothpaste and mouthwash but the colour of your teeth still remains the same. You might just try reducing your intake of carbonated drinks.

A shocking fact is that your mouth contains bacteria that feeds on sugar, which can damage your teeth. When you drink carbonated drinks, they release sugar into your mouth, which leads to tooth decay.

Carbonated drinks also contain acids that are harmful to your teeth.

4. Dehydration

It is funny how you think you hydrate yourself by drinking carbonated drinks. Unfortunately, carbonated drinks contain caffeine that causes dehydration in many people if not supplemented with water.

Although the claim is that carbonated drinks keep you hydrated however if you closely observe how your body function when you take carbonated drinks, you may notice dehydration.

The consistent intake of these drinks can lead to low water retention and malfunction of your digestive microbes.

5. Increases risk of diabetes

The high sugar content from taking carbonated drinks forces your body to transform that sugar into fat. This fat is deposited in your liver. This puts you at a high risk for diabetes.

How Much Sugar Is In A Can Of Soft Drink?

Research shown that there are 4.2 grams of sugar in a single teaspoon of sugar.  Now, imagine scooping up 7 to 10 teaspoons full of sugar and dumping it into your 12-ounce glass of water.

Does that sound too sweet? You may be surprised to learn that’s how much added sugar is in the typical can of soda. This can be a useful tip to visualize just how much sugar is in your drink.

Although Drinks naturally high in sugar like 100% fruit juices are also featured.

While juice often contains healthful nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, it should also be limited as it contains just as much sugar (though from naturally occurring fruit sugars) and calories as soft drinks.

6. Obesity

In 2013, Coca-Cola launched an “anti-obesity” advertisement recognizing that sweetened soda and many other foods and drinks have contributed to the obesity epidemic.

There is sufficient scientific evidence that decreasing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption will reduce the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related diseases.

Unfortunately, sugary beverages are a regular drink of choice for millions around the world, and a major contributor to the obesity epidemic.

7. Risk of heart disease

Two studies 2007 and 2012 demonstrated that frequent intake of carbonated drinks may negatively impact your heart health.

Another 2020 study featuring sugar soften beverages demonstrated that drinking greater than One serving per day is associated with cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

Obesity, high blood sugar, diabetes, and other diseases in the body are symptoms of heart disease. This is due to the excess intake of unhealthy sugar by the body.

Taking too much sugar hinders you from taking healthy meals or fruits that are beneficial to the body.

8. Joint Pain

Too much intake of carbonated drinks reduces the calcium level in the body, and this weakens the bones.

Carbonated drinks produce phosphate, which swallows up the calcium in your bloodstream, causing your bones to break easily.

The result of one 2013 study shown that frequent consumption of soft drinks may be associated with increased Osteoarthritis progression in men.

Another 2014 study shown that regular consumption of sugar-sweetened soda, but not diet soda, is associated with increased risk of seropositive rheumatoid in women, independent of other dietary and lifestyle factors.

9. Risk of kidney diseases

Consumers of carbonated drinks tend to have kidney stones. This is as a result of the accumulation of minerals derived from the consumption of excess sugar and dehydration.

Studies shown that Carbonated beverage consumption has been linked with diabetes, hypertension, and kidney stones, all risk factors for chronic kidney disease.

Cola beverages, in particular, contain phosphoric acid and have been associated with urinary changes that promote kidney stones.

This disease is more painful than childbirth. It is important that you reduce your consumption of carbonated drinks to prevent or reduce the risk of having kidney disease.

10. Bloating And Gas

Carbonated drinks contain gas (carbon dioxide gas artificially infused in it).

This gas builds up and causes a bloated stomach gradually which may eventually negatively impact your digestive gut bacteria thereby increasing the risk stomach ulcer in some people. 

It causes your stomach to be uncomfortably big. Are you familiar to this symptom?

Other dangers of taking excess carbonated drinks include: Heart failure, colon rectal cancer, behavioral problems, infertility, memory loss and lots more.

Does mixing more water with carbonated drinks reduces the gas or calories they contain?

Unfortunately adding water to carbonated drinks won’t reduce the calorie content. There’s no scientific evidence that support this. Experimentally you have done is to increase the quantity of water in the drink.

Related: Is The Popular Food Preservatives- Sodium Benzoate Bad For Your Health?

Related: What’s Alcohol Cirrhosis?

Does Carbonated Drinks Or Water Increase Hydration?

Although Carbonated drinks or water can be a refreshing beverage and alternative to ordinary water, however, the hard truth is that  drinking carbonated drinks or water won’t get you hydrated rather it may cause dehydration making you craving for more.

It increases the rate at which you sweat or urinate which lead to dehydration making you want for more.

Frequently drinking carbonated drinks or water will fill your stomach with excess gas which may affect your digestive enzymes.

Brief History Of Carbonated Water

It is thought that the first person to aerate water with carbon dioxide was William Brownrigg in 1740.

Joseph Priestley invented carbonated water, independently and by accident, in 1767 when he discovered a method of infusing water with carbon dioxide after having suspended a bowl of water above a beer vat at a brewery in Leeds, England.

He wrote of the “peculiar satisfaction” he found in drinking it, and in 1772 he published a paper entitled Impregnating Water with Fixed Air.

Priestley’s apparatus, almost identical to that used by Henry Cavendish five years earlier, which featured a bladder between the generator and the absorption tank to regulate the flow of carbon dioxide, was soon joined by a wide range of others.

However, it was not until 1781 that carbonated water began being produced on a large scale with the establishment of companies specialized in producing artificial mineral water.

The first factory was built by Thomas Henry of Manchester, England. Henry replaced the bladder in Priestley’s system with large bellows.

While Priestley’s discovery ultimately led to the creation of the soft drink industry—which began in 1783 when Johann Jacob Schweppes founded Schweppes to sell bottled soda water, he did not benefit financially from his invention.

Priestley did however receive scientific recognition when the Council of the Royal Society “were moved to reward its discoverer with the Copley Medal” in 1772.

Conclusion

Carbonated drinks/water is water that has been artificially infused carbon dioxide gas in it under pressure in the lab.

Frequently drinking carbonated drinks or water will fill your stomach with excess gas which may affect your digestive enzymes with time.

What’s more, excessive intake of carbonated drinks and soda is very harmful to the body. A lot of people are unaware of the danger these “refreshing drinks” pose to their organs.

Research has it that carbonated drinks contain high amounts of sugar, chemicals, and gas that become a threat to your well-being on a long run.

It is important that you get yourself familiar with the effect of carbonated drinks.

This will help you steer clear of these harmful drinks or reduce all excessive intake.

I hope you get the value worth your time, I appreciate the time you spend with me. Leave a comment below if you find this article helpful and don’t forget to drop your question, opinion or criticism if any. Cheers!

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER

The content provided in Living Good is for informational and educational purpose only. It’s not intended to provide medical advice or take the place of such advice or treatment from a personal doctor. All readers/viewers of this content are advised to consult their qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. Living Good takes no responsibility for possible health consequences of any person(s) reading or following the information in this educational content. Viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over the counter medication, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement or lifestyle program.

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